Political Agenda of "Redeemer Historians" in North Carolina

There’s a lot of mystery associated with the Lower Cape Fear.  There has been some historical attention in the mid-twentieth century through James Sprunt and Enoch Lawrence Lee, but how much of the history of the Lower Cape Fear is there to discover?  Why does the Cape Fear River itself rest in the bowels of mysteriosity?  Is it the swamps?  Do we compare swampy things with mystery as in the movies, with Swamp Thing, or Creature from the Black Lagoon?  Or is it more than that?  Is there something so unique about the Lower Cape Fear that it invites the darkest of our imaginative endeavors?   

Four novels have been written just in the last eight years that elude to the Cape Fear River Region as a place of murder, capitalizing perhaps on recently-stirred memories of the Wilmington Race Riots of 1898 when as many as hundreds (no one knows how many, actually) were either driven from town or murdered and dumped into the river, as Alfred Moore Waddell said, “to choke the Cape Fear River with carcasses.”  

Could these events of 1898, when Waddell and his fellow conservative Southern Democrats staged a coup d’etat that overthrew the steadily liberalizing government of Wilmington, have inspired the mystery?  Could the efforts since that time to hide the shame of those unsolved murders have caused a historical vacuum?  Has recent exposure of those events through historian David Cecelski’s and Timothy Tyson's Democracy Betrayed  spawned recent books like Murder on the Cape Fear, by author Ellen Elizabeth Hunter?  Perhaps The Cape Fear Murders by Ernest Beasley, Murder Along the Cape Fear: A North Carolina Town in the Twentieth Century by David T. Morgan, or Cape Fear Murders by Wanda Canada owe their genesis in some part to historian LeRae Sykes Umfleet’s A Day of Blood.  Shedding light upon the darkness has some consequence, after all.  Check out this review of LeRae's book... "Wilmington became a blueprint for how to have a riot and get away with it," she said. 

To understand these events requires reflection on the events surrounding 1898, reflection upon the post-Civil War efforts to revamp the history of North Carolina by Confederate “Redeemer” historians.  The past, a priceless Rembrandt to real historians, could be painted over in shades of gray that spread the mythical beginnings of the “Lost Cause,” a biased narrative perpetuated through ladies’ associations, war memorials, veneration of war heroes in the Confederate Veteran magazine, and hundreds of books written by pseudo-historians who knew little of the professional historian's craft.  Was the priceless truth lost to us forever?

This repainted version of history and its political proponents had proudly stood strong against outside or federal opposition for more than a century.  Only recently, thanks to the work of Cecelski and Umfleet and others like them, are we able to take another look with critical eyes upon such events that can offer a better understanding of ourselves and those events within which our recent ancestors were involved.  Perhaps we can fight the old rhetoric and damages of the "Lost Cause."  Still, even today, in the 21st century, it is not without some trepidation as many of its proponents still roam the state.

North Carolina has been a particular sufferer from this historical malaise... and especially the Lower Cape Fear.  This has much to do with the Lower Cape Fear's agricultural and cultural similarity to South Carolina, which I have written about in detail, where we find similar "revision" of the historical data.  Many people passing themselves off as "historians" from our recent past actually were not... they may have done a bit to maintain certain knowledge of our state's history, but not without some damaging political bias... perhaps not without destroying some of that history as well.

Confederate Col. William Lawrence Saunders

Find-a-grave.com tells a mostly accurate biography of William Lawrence Saunders, the editor, compiler, and sometime interpreter of the North Carolina Colonial Records and former Secretary of State for North Carolina.  Notice that I didn't call him an "historian," and with good reason.

He was from Tarboro, Edgecombe County and he was famous for his work on these records as much as he was infamous for another... quoting from Find-a Grave:

Statesman; Editor; Historian Colonel William Lawrence Saunders served as Secretary of the State of North Carolina during the Reconstruction era (1879-1891). During his tenure, he was arrested in his office in Raleigh and brought before the US Senate for questioning regarding his alleged connection to Ku Klux Klan activities in North Carolina. Saunders was the first person ever to invoke his Fifth Ammendment right to refuse to answer questions that could incriminate him during a US Senate investigation. "I decline to answer" is carved on his tombstone as are the words "For 20 years he exerted more power in North Carolina than any other man" also "Distinguished for wisdom, purity and courage" which is generally understood to be a reference to his years of leadership with the Ku Klux Klan rather than his tenure as NC Secretary of State. Saunders was also on the UNC board of trustees and a co-founder of the Raleigh News and Observer newspaper. He graduated from The University of North Carolina in 1854; in 1922 the building that houses Religious Studies and the Geography department - Saunders Hall- was named after him. Although minority students have staged protests in recent years asking that the name be changed - the University of North Carolina is refusing on the grounds that history cannot be changed; only studied with an eye towards better understanding in the future.

The part that I have highlighted in red will give you an idea of the Southern conservative political nature of the man that somewhat manipulated the history of our state through much of the so-called "progressive" era.  The epaulets, the gloves, and the sword in hand from the picture might do the rest to make the point.  Nowhere in the past of this individual is there any training in the historical method, yet he is often referred to as an "historian."

U.S., College Student Lists, 1763-1924 Record for William Laurence Saunders, page 204 in the section for students of UNC

 Saunders' education covers the time before and after the Civil War.  Prior to that war, he received the equivalent of a modern Bachelors degree and what was then called an "LL.B." or a Bachelor of Law degree.  After the war, he went back to UNC to obtain his Doctorate in Law.  He was, indeed, a very learned man.  Still, he was trained and experienced in soldiering, politics, and law... NOT in history.  Yet, he is proclaimed an "historian," largely for his efforts to edit the colonial records.  He was not, however, trained in critical and unbiased inquiry, the quintessential arts of the historian.  If anything, he was very biased!

Dr. H.G. Jones interview on William L. Saunders in 1973

Still, he has been highly honored by most North Carolina historians for that work.  State Historian, Dr. H. G. Jones, in 1973, gave an interview in the Burlington Times-News about the Southern "Redeemer," Saunders, in which he declares him to be the probable leader of the Ku Klux Klan, who moved briefly to Florida after the war before he returned to North Carolina.  In that interview, he also tells of Saunders' (with his brother-in-law from Wilmington) founding of the Raleigh News and Observer, the newspaper that would later be infamous as the conservative mouthpiece during the "Progressive" Era... specifically during the conservative re-entrenchment in the state.  The only coup d'etat to ever occur in U.S. history occurred during that time... right here in North Carolina... now known as the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 first told to us by David Cecelski in Democracy Betrayed and well-researched by LeRae Sykes Umfleet for her book, A Day of Blood.  

Raleigh News & Observer cartoon depicting the "evils" of "Negro Rule"

That "riot" may have resulted in as many as 500 deaths, mostly African-Americans and their supporters.  The riot was led by at least two ggg-grandsons of Brunswick Town (the Lower Cape Fear's first town) founder Maurice Moore (Alfred Moore Waddell) and his brother, Roger (descendent also named Roger), and former Confederate officers-turned politicians (and often lawyers who styled themselves as "historians").  

Alfred Moore Waddell deserves special attention as a lawyer, Confederate soldier, politician, and, yes... an "historian."  The North Carolina History Project describes him and his mother's grandfather, Alfred Moore, great-grandson of founder Maurice Moore and Supreme Court Justice:

Alfred Moore Waddell

"He received his early education at William Bingham’s School and Caldwell Institute in Hillsborough prior to entering the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1850. After graduating from UNC in 1853, he studied under several distinguished lawyers, including Frederick Nash and Samuel H. Phillips, before being admitted to the bar in 1855.  He soon moved to Wilmington, North Carolina to practice law... When war came and North Carolina seceded and joined the Confederacy in 1861, Waddell reluctantly cast his lot with his state and joined the Third North Carolina Cavalry (also known as Forty-First Regiment North Carolina Troops), serving first as adjutant, and later as lieutenant colonel.  At times fighting bad health more than Union troops, Waddell resigned in August 1864 and returned to Wilmington to start a law firm with his father."

After the war, beginning in 1870, he became a four-term U.S. Congressman under the Conservative-Democratic ticket.  Although initially opposed to secession, he yet remained a fervent proponent of "White Rule," along with his mother's cousin, Col. Roger Moore, the leader of the Ku Klux Klan from the Lower Cape Fear.  Together, with "Red Shirts" (armed intimidators) from South Carolina, rhetorical support from Raleigh News and Observer editor Josephus Daniels (a later U.S. Secretary of the Navy), and chair of the Conservative Democratic party campaign for 1898 and later 30-year U.S. Senator from NC, Furnifold McClendon Simmons, they ousted the sitting mayor of Wilmington at gunpoint, led the riot that resulted in so many deaths, skewed the 1898 vote in favor of their party, and subsequently, Alfred installed himself as mayor of Wilmington while destroying any idea of liberal NC government to come until the present day.  Waddell's opposition to African-Americans in politics was so strong that he was determined to be completely rid of them, as he famously boasted, "if we have to choke the Cape Fear River with carcasses."  He was certainly true to his word.  From 1898-on, Wilmington blanched white and no one seriously opposed the Southern Democratic conservative party in North Carolina after that... not even the federal government.  The old rhetoric of "States' Rights" became an all-too-convenient excuse to ignore the horror and bloodshed of the only coup d'etat in American history.

1898 Wilmington Race Riot - Pictured is Waddell, E.G. Parmalee, and armed whites. Image courtesy of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, Raleigh, NC.

In his later years, Waddell published several books, one of which was A History of New Hanover County and the Lower Cape Fear Region (Wilmington, 1909), still readily available today and found on most library shelves.  Published only a decade after the bloodshed, Waddell reaffirmed his family's contributions to the Lower Cape Fear, the Revolutionary War... and, of course, their white-supremacist point-of-view. He burrowed his conservative heels in the banks of the Cape Fear River, never to be challenged again. 

Of course, Alfred Moore Waddell was never professionally trained as a skeptical historian.

George Davis of Wilmington, former Confederate States Senator from North Carolina and afterward Confederate States Attorney General under President Jefferson Davis was not an historian either.   Still, as a politician, he often drew from history to make his polemical points.

George Davis, often called the "Honorable" George Davis, as many lawyers of the day were, famously placed Edward Moseley on a pedestal in a speech given at Wilmington on 26 November, 1879, titled "A Study in Colonial History."  On page 21, Davis begins his long praise of Moseley, Moore, and their allied family (one of which was Davis' family as well):

“Of all the men who watched and guided the tottering footsteps of our infant State, there was not one who in intellectual ability, in solid and polite learning, in scholarly cultivation and refinement, in courage and endurance, in high Christian morality, in generous consideration for the welfare of others, in all true merit in fine, which makes a man among men, who could equal Edward Moseley.”

I have written on Edward Moseley's numerous white-collar (and otherwise) crimes (most of which have never previously been examined (thanks, no doubt in part, to Davis' high praise) and for which I have proven beyond a shadow of doubt... at least the white-collar ones), so I will not go into that long list.  Suffice it to say that Davis merely elevated a well-known opportunist and literal criminal from North Carolina's past to hero status to serve the purposes of the post-war Confederate agenda.  He elevated many criminals, actually, all associated with Moseley in some way.  You can search my blog entries for this evidence.  

Some background will still be necessary... 

Edward Moseley, although not from South Carolina himself (he was from London, England) was a member of the "Family" (also written about by me numerous times), a group of mostly South Carolinian controversials, led by Maurice Moore, the second son of SC governor and Goose Creek Indian slaver, James Moore.  Moseley worked for James Moore in South Carolina before coming northward in 1704.  The Moores founded Brunswick Town in the Lower Cape Fear and guided many of their fellow residents of Goose Creek to the Lower Cape Fear in North Carolina after South Carolina's truculent behavior toward the Lords Proprietors turned into a royally-refereed battle and their seriously irresponsible economic behavior devalued their currency to 15% of its original face value.  These plantationist-merchants found it difficult to conduct their trade in that environment (of their own making of course) and moved to NC for the lower taxes and freer operating restrictions, especially the non-taxed status of their numerous slaves.

Moores had became infamous as slavers, leading raids against Indians to collect captives to trade for African slaves in the Caribbean until the American Revolution made them heroes.  Moseley was well associated with the family of Moores since a young man and may have instigated the Tuscarora War to serve the purposes of SC's Goose Creek men and his own purposes as surveyor-general in clearing Indian lands for settlement.  He really did not have the people's best interests at heart... whites, blacks, and Indians alike who died in horrific fashion in that war.  Davis still elevated Moseley's lackluster reputation after the Civil War to serve the redeemers' purposes.

Statue of George Davis in Wilmington

George Davis was the son of Episcopalian Bishop Thomas Frederick Davis and Mary Moore, both descendents of South Carolinian immigrants to the Lower Cape Fear and related to Brunswick Town founders or supporters from 1725-1776.  

Born near Wilmington, North Carolina, Davis attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was valedictorian of the class of 1838.  He subsequently studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1840.  Again, not an historian and certainly no authority on historical matters, even those from North Carolina.  As a conservative politician and lawyer, however, he was held in the highest esteem, both in Wilmington as well as across the state. 

His speech, though a polemical recitation of the heroic deeds of the "saintly" Maurice Moore and Edward Moseley, was published by a local Wilmington publisher, Jackson and Bell, only a few months later.  The speech begins with a revisit to the Cary Rebellion (partly instigated by Moseley) as "greatly misinterpreted."  Rather, as Davis states, it was a fight against an oppressive government, as he saw the United States at the time, and he endeavored to "undo some of the wrong of the historians."  At least, he did not call himself an "historian," only that real historians were part of the government conspiracy that put down such "honorable rebellions" as Cary's... and the South's as well.  :)

Davis' speech literally drips with condescension for earlier writers of North Carolina history (who wrote before the Civil War, that is) like Francis Lister Hawks, who found Edward Moseley (Davis' kinsman) a well-educated man, but unscrupulous in his behavior.  Hawks was not without sympathy, as any reverend might be, and he believed that Moseley, a fellow lawyer like himself, must have been affected by some unknown force to make him behave so badly.  Davis, on the other hand, believes that Hawks was drastically misled and blames part of this upon the place of his birth, in New Bern, at the scene of the Tuscarora war, affected by many of Moseley's questionable actions with John Porter, Thomas Cary, and others. 

Actually, Hawks was absolutely correct, although he had an undue sympathy in my opinion, for his fellow lawyer and "devout" Anglican brother-in-Christ, Edward Moseley.  Yes, I'm fond of ironic sarcasm... lol.

By the way, as any good "Redeemer" politician of the times and in complete agreement with Davis, William L. Saunders also declared Moseley’s “undying love of free government, and his indomitable maintenance of the rights of the people.”  Former Confederate North Carolina would have its "redemption" if it had to elevate every criminal in the state to hero status... even former pirates, treasurers, surveyors-general, and Congressmen!  lol

Capt. Samuel A'Court Ashe

In reference to the "Family," we have another well-known North Carolinian and Confederate officer and Progressive-era "historian," Capt. Samuel A'Court Ashe.  His entry in Wikipedia calls him a "Confederate infantry captain in the American Civil War and celebrated editor, historian, and North Carolina legislator."  The NCPedia calls him "soldier, lawyer, politician, historian, journalist, and editor, [who] was born at Wrightsville Sound, near Wilmington."

There's that title of "historian" again... let's examine Ashe's credentials in that department.  In David Brown's 1979 biography of Ashe:

"The year 1852 brought him to Rugby Academy at Washington, D.C., where he studied until moving to Oxford Military Academy in Oxford, Md., in 1854. He was by then preparing for the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, which he entered in 1855; he rose to be second in his class. At this time, also, he began a lifelong friendship with Alfred Thayer Mahan, the noted naval theorist. Ashe resigned from the naval academy, however, in 1858, returning to his father's home at Rocky Point. Here he began reading law, first on his own, then under the direction of William Ruffin."

"With the bombardment of Fort Sumter and the opening of the Civil War, Ashe followed his native state, first as an engineer with the unofficial commission of lieutenant. This commission was regularized in January 1862, when he was assigned to Charleston. In June of that year he was commissioned a captain and assigned, as assistant adjutant general, to General William D. Pender."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a degree in "history" wasn't in that list...

So, this Ashe began as a military dropout, then studied law and dropped that because he was ill-trained for it, then entered the Civil War as an engineer.  His biographer, Ronnie Wayne Faulkner, in 1983, told in "Samuel A'Court Ashe: North Carolina Redeemer and Historian, 1840-1938" of his professional difficulties and that he gave these up in 1879 to become a journalist, also a profession for which he suffered.   Ironically, Faulkner also called him an "historian."  Maybe we should define this term better in the future!

"As editor," quotes Faulker, "Ashe proved to be an unyielding partisan, blind to the shortcomings of his own party [conservative Southern Democrats], while acutely sensitive to the failures of the opposition."  Ashe composed and published his essay, "A southern view of the invasion of the Southern states and the war of 1861-65," a polemic against the North, supporting "States' Rights" and especially the Confederate "States' Right" of slavery.  The pamphlet was still published as late as 1972 by a Weldon, NC press and is still available cheaply on Amazon.  Supporters of "States' Rights" today still revere it. 

Nowhere in his biography nor any of his background does it say that he studied to be a professional historian, yet, in his twilight years, between 1905 and 1917, he wrote a Biographical History of North Carolina from Colonial Times to the Present, in eight volumes!   And, of course, in addition, he was a regular contributor to the Confederate Veteran magazine during 1926–32.  He tried so very hard to serve his family of North Carolina conservatives, especially after North Carolina's failures along with the rest of the South in the Civil War.  It was then that Ashe became a Southern "Redeemer" through his "historical" writing, as an amateur, of course.  Still, as a member of the Ashe family and a politician in "Redeemer"-oriented North Carolina, whose defense of the Ku Klux Klan was infamous, his versions of the past became a standard for many decades. North Carolinians today still call him "historian!"

Ashe's ancestors and family icons were the Lower Cape Fear's cream of the crop.  Samuel A'Court Ashe's parents were William Shepperd Ashe of Rocky Point (originally in the Brunswick Settlement and now part of Pender County, named for Confederate General, William Dorsey Pender) and Sarah Ann Green. His ancestry and relatives included well-known NC politicians and lawyers:  John Baptiste Ashe, colonial official and original member of the "Family"; John Baptiste Ashe, governor-elect; John Ashe, revolutionary general; Samuel Ashe, judge and governor; William Shepperd Ashe, judge; and Thomas S. Ashe, congressman and supreme court justice.  Again, he was also related to the Moores, who founded Brunswick Town in 1725.  

The American Revolution tended to erase many former failings...

Those Ashes above who were members of Confederate politic bodies or served the state afterwards, were all staunch conservatives who fought fervently against Lincoln's Republicans, the liberal version, of course.  Incidentally, no liberal politicians were elected from North Carolina for 100 years following the Civil War.  Many of these conservatives ran unopposed, especially after 1898.  

What about Hawks, you may ask... the prime example of a pre-Civil War pseudo-historian.  Seems that was all we had back then.  lol

Rev. Francis Lister Hawks

Prominent North Carolina "historian" Francis Lister Hawks was born in 1798 in New Bern.  Like the others, he was educated as a lawyer (yes, history degrees were available).  Hawks wrote about the history of our state from the perspective of a writer without the benefit of the NCCR at his command; indeed, he may have had complete access to the originals before the Civil War (he published his history in 1858).  Hawks quite differently gives credit to Gov. George Burrington (instead of his successor Gabriel Johnston) for starting Wilmington and accuses Moseley and, ironically, Moore of actually starting the trouble in the Cary Rebellion, which none of these Confederate authors have done... nor, would they ever have done.  

This was an unusual occurrence in North Carolina historiography because the "Family" couldn't stand the first royal governor, George Burrington... in 1732.  He voided certain "Family" land grants to found Brunswick Town's rival of... yes, it was the port town of Wilmington!  

After the royal hammer came down on the upstart Moores and their "Family" after 1732, financially destroying their own town of Brunswick, they simply just took over Wilmington.  It didn't take much, they were rich and well-connected, after all.  As I said, the Revolution helped to erase these minor inconveniences, anyway.  

Furthermore, they later resented blacks supported by the liberal party who they saw as taking over their newly usurped town of Wilmington... they took it back at gunpoint in 1898.  In their minds, they had won it politically from Burrington and his government faction and it belonged to them and their Family.  

Burrington barely survived (three people did not, I might add) and flew back to England quickly in 1734!  Still, within North Carolina, Burrington's reputation was smeared by his enemies.  The second generation of the Family also used Hugh Williamson's first North Carolina "history" in 1812 to slyly accuse him of being gay and dying in an attempt to purchase gay sex from a prostitute.., yes, I said "gay" and "prostitute."  The actual record shows that Burrington was mugged... in 1759, not 1734... and, for his money... not sex!  Even the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, William Saunders, waving a copy of Burrington's 1759 will in his hands, couldn't stand for this injustice!  

This had been the underhanded work of John Baptiste Ashe Jr. (in association with Williamson) who fought with Williamson during the Revolution and served with him as a U.S. Congressman just before 1812.  Every North Carolinian "historian" since then has quoted the reference from Williamson's... or through his work.  All, except Hawks.

This is great fun, but let's get back to Hawks, shall we?

Still, looking into Hawks' background reveals even more of a reason that he probably told the truth about our history, in stark contrast to these later Confederate lawyers and "historians."  

Hawks married young after finishing college at UNC at the tender age of 17; however, his wife died after only two children were born.  In 1829, partly from the heartache, Hawks left his law practice and moved to New York, then Boston as an Episcopalian minister.  Although he was involved in many scandals as part of that vocation, which caused him to move from church to church, he never fought in the Civil War, nor did he declare any sympathy for the Confederate "lost cause" after the war.  He wrote and polished his "history" of North Carolina from his home in New York and had it published by E. J. Hale and Sons of Fayetteville, NC in 1858.  Even still, the history that he told needed no skewing by Confederate rhetoric because the South had not yet lost the war.  That would be six years later.  Only then did George Davis give him hell for writing what he did about Moseley and for criticising Williamson so heavily. 

Every political pseudo-historical detail of the Progressive era in North Carolina focused upon or had its origins in Wilmington and/or the Lower Cape Fear...

Politics spread from that Wilmington epicenter through the entire state and maintained a starkly conservative flavor... with a touch of "White Rule" added for good measure, especially following the re-entrenchment of 1898.  No one was ever prosecuted for the numerous deaths in Wilmington that year.  We don't even know exactly how many there were.  Amazing, isn't it?

Article flattering and proudly supporting  the Ku Klux Klan as defenders of the state against Northern aggression and their fellow Negroes, written by the wife of Gov. Thomas Jarvis and printed in a prominent North Carolina publication in 1902, the North Carolina Booklet.  A quote preceeds the article with reads: "Carolina; Carolina; Heaven's blessings attend her; While we live we will cherish protect and defend her!"

I could go on, but I think the point has been well-made and there's no nice way to put this:  North Carolina history and politics today is the product of early 18th-century South Carolinian conservative politicians and lawyers, whose descendants skewed our state's true history even before the Civil War, but most especially to fit a Confederate "Lost Cause" agenda after Reconstruction and especially through the staunchly-conservative "Progressive Era."  No wonder Rob Christensen called us a "Paradox of Tarheel Politics," an almost split-personality disorder descending from the more liberal Albemarle to the more conservative Cape Fear that eventually settled into a decidedly conservative regime across the entire state, but with minor "wrinkles."  Still, "Palmetto" state would probably be more appropriate than "Tarheel."  

Be not fooled into thinking that this was a "progressive" or liberal time for the state.  Oh, many technical and economic advances were made (those were the wrinkles)... but not socially.  The conservative social policies of "Jim Crow" and segregation, refined in the Lower Cape Fear, defined North Carolina for more than a full century and a half until the present day.  Understand that this has influenced modern conservatism in our state today, indeed North Carolina's current political ideology is largely based upon this Confederate brand of conservatism... the repeated rhetoric of "States' Rights," for example.  

1959 North Carolina Defenders of States Rights Resolution, taken from the Holt papers at UNC's special collections department.  There are many code words and phrases that will sound very familiar to those keeping up with current events and today's GOP politics.  Elements intended to generate fear are carefully employed within this rhetoric as they are today. 

Conflicts with increased liberalization through the internet might help to explain the incomprehensible behavior we see in the so-called "progressive" state today, whose legislature attempts to declare North Carolina a sovereign entity (virtual secession) and proclaim a state religion (direct violation of the 1st amendment), attempting to outlaw abortion decades after Roe v. Wade, legislated inequality, and generally fighting our first African-American president tooth and nail as though he was somehow that different from other Democrats!  These efforts  appear as acts of desperation and we are not alone in this behavior... it's found all across the traditional South and in many red states out west as well. Confederate "states' rights" rhetoric still runs rampant across the country, supported and substantiated by amateur historians who skew the truth in favor of their ideology rather than use the proper tools of the historical trade to tease out the truth.

As an historian (yes, professionally trained and not planning on any law or political career in the future), I can attest to the many still difficult obstacles placed in our path by conservatives of the Progressive era... no, not the liberal "Democrats" of today, but the highly-conservative Southern-fried variety of Jesse Helms that held our state unchallenged for 150 years! These are the "Republicans" of today, those that Barry Goldwater warned us about, as sure as former Southern Democrat Strom Thurmond of SC or Jesse Helms, who changed conservative colors in the 1970s to help get Ronald Reagan elected.  And they're still going strong...

What was the damage?

There are volumes of abstracted letters for John Gray Blount for which letters are "missing."  Oh, they can mostly (I think) be located as originals at the archives, but do not appear in the published works of Alice Keith Barnwell from 1958, just after Brown v. Board in 1954.  Most historians rely on these volumes as good-faith abstractions from the originals.  These "missing" letters generally contain references to miscegenation between whites and blacks and/or mulattoes.  Still, many of them may actually be missing from the archives... we would have no way to tell.  

This poses another serious question...

Furthermore, how much of the massive archival material at Raleigh has been altered or thrown out for political reasons?  The Secretary of State's records were kept in the the secretary's offices as late as the 1980s instead of at the archives, where they should have been.  Anyone searching for their ancestor's land grants found it necessary to drive there from the archives to view them, if they could.  Why were they kept apart for so long? What was the purpose of keeping these records under guard from the public and why are so many early records spotty and inconsistent?  Paper-eating bugs did not get them all!

No real historian uses William L. Saunders' "Prefaces" to each Volume of the NCCR because we all know them to contain misinformation... unless you write a piece like this... about the misinformation.  :) 

BTW, William L. Saunders (and most Progressive-era "historians") was NOT an historian, you did get that part, right?  Despite what most references to him say... real historians care about history and will preserve it despite the politics involved.  We don't assume a conclusion and cherry-pick the data that supports it.  We leave that to the Southern apologists, Tea Partiers, and Libertarians, among others, who, if they have a degree, probably didn't get it in history.  My profession is not an amateur one and I do find the implication that it is rather offensive. 

My work on the Lower Cape Fear has been especially difficult because of past "avoidance" of certain historical data that I now have to "tease" out of the records.  Wilmington was the NC epicenter of the "Redeemer disturbance" after all.  There is virtually no secondary synopses available because... well, that would have to be done previously by Progressive-era historians and/or pseudo-historians!   I have to treat them as hostile sources... and, I'm not seriously thinking of quoting from the "venerable" George Davis!  lol

What bothers me the most is that papers found in the NCCR very likely have been tampered with prior to publication - certain records left out that did not support the Confederate thesis of the times in which Saunders lived.  The damage has been done... some records probably burned or otherwise destroyed.  

We have to "redeem" our true history from the Confederate "redeemers" of the past and there's a great effort to do just that.  The archives today has done a fabulous job of piecing back together our records from British sources.  Just last week, I was amazed at the gobs of new records available there.  These should be researched thoroughly and supported with patronage (go and look at them!).  The online availability of British sources through the liberalizing internet have made this an unavoidable obstacle to those that would skew our history in the near future.  I especially encourage anyone working on genealogy to reconsider the information that you now have and research the details thoroughly again.  You may not need a professional degree for this, but... you have professionals when you need them! 

I promise that, when I need legal advice, I won't simply assume that I can do law just as well as I do history.  That would be a ridiculous assumption... right?

By now, I hope that this article makes most of us aware of the dangers of "practicing history without a license."  :)   Amateur history should never be discouraged, but temper what you write with the established facts found in the materials of the pros.  We get paid to do a good job... so you can benefit.  Take advantage!  The Cape Fear will not always remain a mystery if we do it right!

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British Red Coats from Carolina

Question: Why were these insects important to the British Empire of the 18th century?

Answer: Red dye for their uniforms.

The cochineal (the female in the photo does not have wings) feeds on cacti and was mostly found in South America, harvested and prepared by Spain. Still, there were some harvested in Carolina (yes, there are cacti in Carolina, especially when you cultivate it), although it was not as highly valued as the Spanish variety, requiring as much as three times as many female cochineals. To get the dye required scalding, drying, and pulverizing 70,000 insects to obtain a single pound of dye. The Spanish were quite adept at cultivating cochineal, having also learned to chemically treat the cochineal dye to create carmine.

A June 1716 entry in the journal of the Board of Trade and Plantations shows that British officials pondered the use of Carolina cochineal versus the Spanish variety:

Carolina.

Trade.

Mr. Gandin.

Patterns scarlet cloth.

Spanish Carolina Cochineal.

Mr. Gandin attending [fo. 64 vide infra], produced to their lordships two patterns of scarlet cloth, the one dyed with a Spanish cochineal, and the other with cochineal from Carolina, the colours appearing equally good, but that it took 3 times the quantity of Carolina cochineal to dye an equal colour with the Spanish. Upon which he said, that the cochineal gathered in Carolina grew wild in the woods, and might without doubt come near to, if not equal any other, were it improved and cultivated in gardens as the Spaniards do; their cochineal being at first no better than this first essay from Carolina.

The British were always looking for ways around the Spanish trade. It had become quite a habit since Elizabethan days. Certainly, the British needed a lot of red dye! 

The Quarrel: Tales from Captain James Wimble's Revenge

Illustration from James Wyatt’s account of Wimble’s Revenge* showing Master at Arms James Parry shooting at Trumpeter James Wyatt

• Story from the War of Jenkin's Ear (1739-48) privateer Revenge, commanded by James Wimble, born 1697, Hastings, Sussex County, England; came to America circa 1718 for the Caribbean merchant trade; came to Carolina and purchased acreage on Scuppernong Creek on the Roanoke Sound and in the Lower Cape Fear; lived in Boston and owned the Green Dragon Inn; helped to found the town that later became Wilmington, North Carolina, known variously as "New Town," "New Carthage," and "New Liverpool." Afterward, during the War of Jenkins Ear, he turned privateer, leaving the Thames River in London in 1740 to prey on the Spanish.

-------------------------------


The Quarrel  

(continued from First Capture of the Career of Wimble's Revenge)


From: James Wyatt, The Life and Surprizing Adventures of James Wyatt… (London, Eng.: printed and sold by E. Duncomb, in Butcherhall-Lane; T. Taylor, at the Meuse Back-Gate; and E. Cook, at the Royal-Exchange, 1748)

Part of "A True Mapp and Description of the Towne of Plymouth and the Fortifications thereof at the last siege, A. 1643" showing Plymouth Harbor and the Catwater.

...
While our Ship lay at Plymouth, I went to Wenbury to see my Mistress, my Master being dead. She receiv'd me very kindly, and would have had me settled to my Business. I told her at present I could not, because I belong'd to a Privateer that lay at Plymouth, and was oblig'd to return there again in two or three Days. After staying a Day or two with her, the Captain sent for me, and I returned to Plymouth.

When I came to our ship, I found one of our Midshipmen (whose Name I have forgot) was drowned in Catwater *, in endeavouring to swim ashore. He was buried very decently in the new Churchyard, in Plymouth; and those of our Men that made the best Appearance, and which were fore and would not run away, attended at the Funeral. Every one had a Pair of Pistols stuck in his Belt, a Hanger by his Side, and there was Swords cross'd on the Coffin Lid. 

Great Britain’s Coasting Pilot, G. Collins 1693

• The lower reaches of the River Plym, known as the Cattewater, have been used as an anchorage for ships since at least the medieval period. See: the Cattewater Wreck

"Catwater, Plymouth" [1856] from the collection: The Ports of England

While we lay in Catwater, one Mr. James Parry (sometime Organist of Ross in Herefordshire, and Author of a Book, entitled, Memoirs of the life of Mr. James Parry, &c [1741]) our Master at Arms, having some Words with me, challenged me to fight him at Small Sword. I readily accepted the Challenge; but the next Day, when we were to have gone ashore, the Small Sword was objected against by some of the Ship's Company, as a Weapon that did not belong to the Ship; and therefore it was insisted, if we were resolv'd to fight, it should be with Hanger and Pistol: But Mr. Parry refused to fight me with those Weapons. 

Unknown origin [From: DUELING AND THE 18TH CENTURY SMALL SWORD by Emery Lee]

• By far, the most common weapon of the 18th century aristocracy was the French Small Sword, a weapon that came into vogue in Europe around the fourth quarter of the 17th Century. The smallsword is instantly recognizable for its hilt, typically featuring an 8-shaped plate, a single short quillon, two small arms (that get progressively smaller in the course of the 18th Century) and a knucklebow. [From: DUELING AND THE 18TH CENTURY SMALL SWORD by Emery Lee]

A few Hours after this Affair was over, I ask'd our Captain, who was then going ashore, if I might go to Plymouth. He told mr, when the Boat return'd, which would be about Half and Hour, I might go. On the Boat's returning, I went into her, but Mr. Parry order'd me to come back, pretending that the Captain had left no Orders for me to go; and order'd the Centry, if I offer'd to put off the Boat, to fire at me, he being the principal Officer at that Time on board.

I took the Boat-Hook, ande push'd off the Boat; upon which the Centry not firing, as Mr. Parry had commanded him, he took the Musquet from him, and immediately fir'd at me, which went through one of the Oars, and took off a Piece of the Rollock. Mr. Parry's firing the Musquet at me so intimidated the Men, that they were afraid to row; but, being resolv'd to go ashore, as I had ask'd Leave of the Captain, I took up the Oars and row'd myself.

When I came ashore, having found the Captain, I acquainted him with what had happen'd, and he assur'd me I should have Satisfaction. In a litle Time the Captain came aboard, and I with him. We immediately went to Mr. Parry's Hammock; but finding him asleep, and very drunk, the Captain desir'd I would take no Notice of it at that Time. When he was up, we tax'd him with it, but he swore he knew nothing of it; and, as he said he was heartily sorry for what we told him he had done, I assur'd him I freely forgave him, and should concern myself no farther about it.

I observ'd before, that I had about Forty Shillings of the Agent; with that money and some I had of my own, I bought an Hundred Weight of Biscuits, and some other Things, which I afterwards sold to good advantage in the Ship.

--------------------


This portion of the tale relates many aspects of mid-18th-century maritime tradition. Impressment of the unwilling to serve on board a ship was problematic when not at sea where the impressed sailors could not escape. Also evident was that they impressed young men or boys readily as older, experienced men were probably more difficult to find.

Although written to "enhance" the gentlmanly qualities of Mr. Wyatt, this story gives us an idea of the propriety of the day… the tendency to strongly feel a slight and redress a wrong, also the just as quick tendency to show Christian charity and forgive. The fact that Wyatt finished his story about the quarrel between him and Parry so quickly to relate the profit he made from his purchases ashore illustrates just how common these quarrels and the violence they evoked must have been.

One interesting note here is also that James Wyatt's 1748 tale was not the only copy to be found. Interestingly enough, James Parry's book mentioned by Wyatt, of 1741, I did find. In that book, he mentions nothing of this adventure, which had not yet happened, of course. Still, in 1770, Parry republished his book… this time with the same tale that Wyatt told, repeated verbatim with the exception that the roles were reversed. This time, in the 1770 version of Parry's, Wyatt shot at HIM in the launch. Whereas, we must believe some literary license took place, it is certainly apparent that Parry plagiarized Wyatt (actually quite common then) and it does not bode well for any future defense of his actions.  :)

A portrait of James Parry from his own 1770 revised book. [James Parry, The true Anti-Pamela: or Memoirs of Mr. James Parry, Late Organist of Ross in Herefordshire…, Vol. 1, 2nd ed. (London : printed for J. Lever, Bookseller. Stationer and Printseller, at Little Moorgace, near Moorfields, 1770), 1. ]

First Capture of the Career of Wimble's Revenge, 1741

James Wyat’s portrait from the frontispiece of his book.  [James Wyatt, The life and surprizing adventures of James Wyatt… (London, Eng.: printed and sold by E. Duncomb, in Butcherhall-Lane; T. Taylor, at the Meuse Back-Gate; and E. Cook, at the Royal-Exchange, 1748), 35.]

From: James Wyatt, The Life and Surprizing Adventures of James Wyatt… (London, Eng.: printed and sold by E. Duncomb, in Butcherhall-Lane; T. Taylor, at the Meuse Back-Gate; and E. Cook, at the Royal-Exchange, 1748)

Kind Reader,

I had never publish'd the following Account of my Life, had it not been at the Desire of Several of my particular Friends. As they had heard (a considerable Time after I enter'd Trumpeter on board the Revenge Privateer) that I was kill'd, with several others, by the Spaniards, in attacking a Bark near the Canary Islands, my returning safe to England surpriz'd them very much, and made them curious to enquire into the Manner of my Deliverance.
 
I therefore being fatig'd with continually relating the Account of our Cruize; our Engagements with the Enemy; my being made Prisoner, &c. resolv'd upon committing it to the Press, that every one might have an Opportunity of perusing it that was inclinable so to do.

As I have hereafter given an Account of the Revenge Privateer's Cruize, I shall speak a Word or two concerning the Officers. Captain [James] Wimble* (who was Commander of the Privateer) was exceeding kind to me; and behav'd, on all Occasions, with a great deal of Courage and Bravery: And all the other Officers behav'd in a Gentleman-like Manner, except one, viz. Mr. James Perry, whose ill Treatment I have mention'd at the Beginning of my Life, who nevertheless I freely forgave long before he was kill'd.  

• James Wimble, born 1697, Hastings, Sussex County, England; came to America circa 1718 for the Caribbean merchant trade; came to Carolina and purchased acreage on Scuppernong Creek on the Roanoke Sound and in the Lower Cape Fear; lived in Boston and owned the Green Dragon Inn; helped to found the town that later became Wilmington, North Carolina, known variously as "New Town," "New Carthage," and "New Liverpool." Afterward, during the War of Jenkins Ear, he turned privateer, leaving the Thames River in London in 1740 to prey on the Spanish. 
• "… his Ship is called the Revenge… burthen of about two hundred Tons… she carries twenty Carriage and forty Swivel guns, one hundred and fifty Men, one hundred and seventy small arms, one hundred and seventy Cutlasses, thirty Barrels of powder, Sixty rounds of great [grape] shot and about a thousand weight of small… victualed for six Months, has two Suits of Sails, five anchors, five Cables, and about a thousand weight of spare Cordage…" --- From: James Wimble, “For Thomas Corbett Esq., Secretary of ye Admiralty,” Great Britain, British Public Record Office, National Archives, ADM.1./3878, copy at North Carolina Department of Archives and History (72.1713.2). ---

I have one Thing more to mention; and that is, To assure the Reader that I have inserted nothing in the Account of my Life, but what, to the best of my knowledge, is true: And therefore, though you should hereafter meet with some Things which may seem strange and surprizing; nay, almost incredible, yet you may be assur'd that they are true, and as such safely relate them to others…
---------------


The tale:

When I came to Plymouth, I happen'd to come in Company with one Mr. James Churchill, who had a Puppet-Show in the Town; and who promis'd me, if I would go with him, he would teach me the Trumpet.

Being now a little weary of the Sea, and having a great Desire to learn on that Instrument, I agreed to go with him. I travell'd with him. I travell'd with him four Years in England, during which Time I learn'd the Trumpet, and some other Musick.

After I left Mr. Churchill, I follow'd my Business of Woolcombing and Dying three Years, at Trowbridge in Wiltshire, near Bath; during which Time I married, and liv'd very well: But Mr. Motet coming into the Town with his Collection of wild Beasts, and wanting a Trumpeter, I agreed to go with him, and travell'd near four Years with him in that Capacity.

It would be needless to give an Account of the several Towns I travell'd through in England, as they are generaly well known, and Books almost every where to be had which describe them: And, as to myself, nothing very extraordinary happen'd. I shall therefore proceed to the chief Thing I intended, viz. to give a particular Account of every Thing that occurr'd worthy of Notice, from my going on board the Revenge Privateer, to my returning to England, and I believe the Reader will not think the Time ill spent in perusing it.

After I left Mr. Moret, I enter'd as a Trumpeter on board the Revenge Privateer, Capt. James Wimble Commander, on the Twenty-ninth of May 1741, who was going on a Cruize against the Spaniards.

On the Second of July we left the Hope, and the same Day pass'd through the Downs, Drums beating, Trumpets sounding, and Colours flying. At Deal we set our Agent ashore, and saluted him with seven Guns; but a Man of War lying in the Downs return'd the Salute with five, thinking it was intended as a Compliment to him.

1783 Map of Kent made by Emanuel Bowen showing its relationship to East Sussex and London.  Also shows the location of the “Downs” and Dover.  Deal, where James Wimble's brother Thomas lived in the 1740s, can be seen to far right.  Greenwich and Woolwich Royal Navy Yards is located on the Thames, on the approach to London and within the jurisdictional area of Kent as well.

The Third of July we went into Hastings. Here the Captain went ashore to see some of his Friends, whom he brought on board a short Time after. While they were on board making merry, the Captain discover'd a Sail, and order'd us to give her Chace. We made all the Sail we could, and in about an Hour came up with her. We fir'd twice at her before she would bring to, which made us imagine she would prove a Prize, but we afterwards found her to be a French Fishing-Boat, with twenty-four Hands on board. After examining her, and finding no Fire-Arms, or prohibited Goods on board, we discharg'd her, not at that Time being at War with France.

"Hastings from the Shore" by

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Joseph Mallord William Turner, Hastings from the Sea ('Hastings, Deep Sea Fishing') 1818 © The British Museum

The Ninth of July we saw three Sail off the Coast of France. We gave them Chace, and after some Time came up with two of them. They prov'd to be French Vessels, laden with Salt. One of the Captains told our Lieutenant, who was sent on board him in order to search his Vessel, that he had spoke with the third Sail, which we saw to the Leeward; that she came from Malaga; and that she was laden with Spanish Goods.

Upon this Information we immediately gave her Chace; and, though she made all the Sail she could from us, yet in about three or four Hours we came up with her, she being but an indifferent Sailer. We fir'd four Times at her. She had made every Thing ready to fight us, but seeing the Number of our Hands (which were an Hundred in all, though three parts of them were Boys) she at length brought to. We brought the Captain and Mate on board our Ship, and put twelve of our Men on board theirs, one of which was the Master, and our Captain gave him Orders to carry her into Plymouth.

When the Mate of the Ship we had taken came on board our Ship, and saw how poorly we were mann'd, he said, had he known it before, the Ship should not have been carried into Plymouth by us; upon which we imagin'd she would prove a good Prize.

Catte Water, Plymouth, Devon, c1880 (Dave Upton Photography)

The Tenth of July we got safe into Catwater, pass'd by the Hastings Man of War in the Sound, and saluted the Fort at Ten o'Clock at Night; but the Salute was not return'd, it being too late.

On the Eleventh of July Mr. William Warren*, our Second Lieutenant, was sent Express to London, in order to acquaint the Owners with our Success. He return'd to Plymouth in about eight or ten Days, and brought Mr. Parker, our Chief Agent, with him. When they came, our Lieutenant told us, he was sure she would prove a good Prize. In searching the Ship we had taken, we found several Things that were not in her Bills of Lading, particularly two Casks of Camphire: And while we stay'd at Plymouth, which was about three weeks, we search'd the Ship continually to see what we could find.

• 2nd Lieut. William Warren was referred to as "2nd Lieut. William Richardson" in the transcript of a Rhode Island trial for another prize ship taken in America by Revenge.

The Agent brought with him from London about Three Hundred Pounds, which he lent to those of the Ship's Company whom he judg'd most deserving, of which I had about Forty Shillings.*

• £300 = $1175 = $50,000 (in 1993 U.S. dollars); Wyatt's part of 40 shillings is roughly $85 (in 1993 U.S. dollars): "We convert colonial currency to pounds sterling and pounds sterling to dollars at the "standard 17th and 18th century rate" (developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1704) of 4s,6d "sterling" per dollar (or 0.255 pounds = 1 dollar), and $4.44 18th century dollars = 1 pound "sterling." From: http://www.continentalline.org/articles/9602/960203.htm

Testimony of Ignatius Pell in the Tryal of "Gentleman Pyrate" Stede Bonnet

Major Stede Bonnet, British pirate (Later known as Capt Thomas and Edwards) was a retired army major, leading a peaceable and prosperous life on Barbados before deciding to turn to pirating. 


The reason why he turned buccaneer is not clear, but Capt Charles Johnson says those who knew him "believed that his humour of going a pyrating proceeded from a disorder in his mind which had been but too visible in him some time before his wicked undertaking; and which is said to have been occassioned by some discomforts he found in a married state. Be that as it may, the major was ill qualified for the business, as not understanding maritime affairs." 

He bought a ship and hired a crew to take to the sea. Being only mildly successful, he ran into Edward Teach (Blackbeard) at Carolina in 1718, who took over his ship. He acted as a layabout on Teach's ship while a new captain (Richards) took over his ship and crew. 


At Topsail inlet, Teach broke up his company and parted company with Bonnet (probably to get rid of him), taking a king's pardon, which he urged Bonnet to do. Bonnet got his ship back and sailed off to claim the pardon. He hoped to sail to St Thomas, to claim a privateering commission against the Spanish, as war had recently been declared again. Returning to Topsail Inlet, he found Teach gone with the plunder, and rescued a number of men marooned by Teach. Hearing of Teach's location, he set off to seek revenge on him, but the two pirates were to never meet again.

Major Stede Bonnet, aka the "Gentleman" pirate was captured after a relatively short pirating career by Col. William Rhett of Charles Town, South Carolina in August 1718, just a few months after splitting from Blackbeard's fleet and only a few months before Blackbeard was killed by Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy.  


Bonnet stopped in a lonely, uninhabited Cape Fear River to careen and repair his ship, the Royal James when Rhett came looking for him, armed with a warrant from South Carolina governor Robert Johnson.  


Bonnet remained in the Cape Fear River for the next 45 days. According to Bonnet's boatswain, Ignatius Pell (whose testimony appears below), the pirates intended to wait out the hurricane season there.


It was a bad way to be caught unawares.  The two ships engaged and fought in what has become known as the Battle of Cape Fear (1718).  Brunswick Town was founded there in 1726 and became the first English town on the river since 1665.  The tiny hamlet that became Wilmington developed seven years later about thirteen miles upriver from there. 

The actual transcript of Bonnet's trial held in Charles Town on 10 November 1718 is available and provides a wonderful impression of a pirate's life on the sea and a rare glimpse into the wilderness of the Lower Cape Fear.  Blackbeard died just twelve days later.  

Here presented is the part of the trial transcript that includes Bonnet's boatswain, Ignatius Pell's testimony who turned crown evidence and was pardoned.  I have left the writing and spelling exactly as it was printed in the transcript published in 1719 by Benjamin Crowse in London... with one exception.   You will not have to bother with the 18th century "s" that looks like an "f."  


General description from the transcript:
 

Stede Bonnet from A General History of the Pyrates

Then Richard Allin Efq-, Attorney-General, spake as followeth:
…
'Tis probable Faughan the Pirate, before Things could be got in readiness, might have some Intimation of our Design, and made his way off the Coast, tho all possible Care was taken to prevent it. However, Col. William Rhett and the rest of the Gentlemen were resolv'd not to return without doing some Service to their Country, and therefore went in quest of a Pirate they had heard lay at Cape Fear. About the latter end of September they came up with, and engaged them: The Fight lasted above six Hours, and the Pirates were forced to surrender, tho the Colonel's Vessel running a-ground, lay under all the Disadvantages in the world, as you are all sensible.

The Piratical Crew at the Bar, and now to be tried, in the Engagement, killed ten or eleven of our Men on the spot, and wounded about eighteen, several of which died since they came ashore here.

This Pirate-Sloop was commanded by that noted Pirate Major Stede Bonnet, and formerly called the Revenge, now the Royal James, and was one of those very Sloops that lay off the Harbour of Charles-Town about May last, when they took Mr. Wragg Prisoner, and sent up their insolent Demands to the Governor, as I have mentioned before.
…

And now. Gentlemen of the Jury, I must remind you of your Duty on this occasion.  You are bound by your Oaths, and are obliged to act according to the Dictates of your Consciences, to go according to the Evidence that shall be produced against the Prisoners, without Favour or Affection, Pity or Partiality to anyone of them, if they appear to be guilty of those Crimes they are charged with. And you are not allowed a latitude of giving in your Verdict according to Will and Humour.

I am forry to hear some Expressions drop from private Persons, (I hope there is none of them upon the Jury) in favour of the Pirates, and particularly of Bonnet i that he is a Gentleman, a Man of Honour, a Man of Fortune, and one that has had a liberal Education.  Alas, Gentlemen, all these Qualifications are but several Aggravations of his Crimes. How can a Man be said to be a Man of Honour, that has lost all Sense of Honour and Humanity, that is become an Enemy of Mankind, and given himself up to plunder and destroy his Fellow-Creatures, a common Robber, and a Pirate?

...
We shall call the Evidence, and prove the Facts fully and clearly upon them.  Take notice. Gentlemen, that the boarding, breaking, and entry of one, if the rest were present and consenting, is the boarding, breaking, and entry of all the rest.

We shall prove, that all the Prisoners at the Bar were at the taking of Manwareing's Sloop, that they all bore Arms, and that they all shared a few days before they came to Cape Fear: and if so, we doubt not but you'll find them Guilty, and discharge that Duty the Country expects from you.

1708 Moll Map showing Charles Town, SC and Cape Fear River

Testimony of Ignatius Pell

We shall now call our Witnesses, who will relate to you what enormous and horrid Crimes the Prisoners at the Bar have committed in the Prosecution of the Fact laid in the Indictment.

Clerk Call Ignatius Pell, the Boatswain, who appear'd, and was sworn.

Mr. [Thomas] Hepworth. Do you know the Prisoners at the Bar ?
Ig. Pell. I know them all very well

Mr. Hepworth. Please to give the Court an Account what Vessels were taken after you came from North Carolina.
Ig. Pell. I shall begin before that time. We came from the Bay of Honduras, and from thence to Providence, after which we took several Vessels, and then we came and lay off this Bar, where we took five Vessels.

Judge [Nicholas] Trott. Did all the Prisoners come from the Bay of Honduras ?
Ig. Pell. All except Robert Tucker, he came out of a Sloop belonging to Bermuda; after that we took a Brigantine, out of which we took fourteen Negroes. After we had discharged the Brigantine, we set fail and went to Topsail Inlet at North Carolina, where the Ship was run ashore and lost, which Thatch caused to be done. After we had been there some time, Capt. Thatch came aboard, and demanded all our Arms, and took our best Hands, and all our Provision, and all that we had, and left us.

1733 Moseley Map showing Cape Fear and Topsail Inlet (right)

Attor. Gen. Were all these Men sent aboard of Major Bonnet immediately, or no ?
Ig. Pell. No, Sir, they were put ashore upon an Island.

J. Trott. How came they on board the Revenge ?
Ig. Pell. The Boat was sent off to fetch them aboard. Pris. Maj. Bonnet came with the Boat, and told us, as we were on a Marroon Island, that he was going to St. Thomas's to get a Commission from the Emperor to go against the Spaniards a Privateering, and we might go with him, or continue there : so we having nothing left, was willing to go with him.

Attor.Gen. You say all were on shore, and all might have gone up into the Country, pray what Constraints were any of you under ?
Ign. Pell. Sir, none; when we left Topsail-Inlet, it was with a Design to go to St. Thomas's for the Emperor's Commission to go against the Spaniards; but the first Vessel we saw, we gave Chace to, and came up with her.

Mr. Hepworth. What did you take out of that Vessel ?
Ign. Pell. We took some Provisions out of her. After we bad discharged her, we saw another, which we chaced and took.

Attor.Gen. Were all these Men aboard and in Arms at the same time ?
Ign. Pell. Yes, Sir, all was in Arms: So after we had taken some Provisions out of her, then we discharged her. Next Day we saw two Sloops bound to Bermuda, which we took. The next Day we gave Chace to another, and about Seven or Eight of the clock we came up with them.

Judge Trott. I suppose you were always ready for an Engagement; so that they had their Arms always in Order.
Ign. Pell. I know nothing to the contrary.

Judge Trott. Was Tucker there in particular ?
Ign. Pell. He was, to be sure.

Judge Trott. Go on. . .
Ign. Pell. Then we gave Chace to a Ship bound and we came up with her, in which was some Negroes. We left three Negroes on board, and two White-Men, and sent three Hands from the Revenge: But we seeing two Sloops more, we stood after them, and the other turn'd Tail, and we never saw them more: So we came up with the Sloop, out of which we took thirty Barrels of Beef, and some Butter, and other Provision.

Mr. Hepworth. What did you return in the room of these Goods ?
Ign. Pell. Some Molasses that we had on board Maj. Bonnet's Sleep, after we had discharged
these Sloops. Next Day we took a Ship, and a Scooner, which Major Bonnet took with him.

Mr. Hepworth. Did you take no Plunder out of those ?
Ign. Pell. The chief was Provisions. Then we sailed in company; and the next Day we came to the Capes of Virginia where we met with two Vessels bound for Glasgow in Scotland out of which we took Provisions, and some Tobacco. And after we had discharged them, we sailed for Cape James and after we had been at Anchor some time, we saw a Sloop, which was Captain Manwareing: We let down our Dory, and sent some Hands on Board; and in a little time after they came on board the Revenge with Captain Manwareing.

Attorn. Gen. Were all the Prisoners on board Manwareings Sloop; or had they all their Arms ready when Manwareing was taken?
Ign. Pell. I cannot fay that they were all on board, but they had all their Arms ready.

Judge Trott. Did they all appear forward and alive?  Did none of them show themselves
dissatisfied or unwilling to act at that time?
Ign. Pell. No, I don't know but one was as forward and as willing to act as the other; all of them had their Arms ready.

Judge Trott. Well, how did you proceed after Captain Manwareing was taken ?
Ign. Pell. Next Day we haled the Scooner, a long-side of Captain Manwareing’s Sloop, and hoisted out several Hogsheads of Molasses, and put on board the Scooner.

Mr. Hepworth. What became of the Scooner afterwards?
Ign. Pell. After we put Reeve’s Wife on board, and Captain Read's Son, and we sent them on shore.

Attorn. Gen. How long was Capt. Manwareing a Prisoner ?
Ign. Pell. About ten Weeks.

Attorn. Gen. Was not there more Goods taken out of Manwareing’s Sloop ? What became of them? Did you not share them ?
Ign. Pell. Yes, we shared a little before we came to Cape Fear.

Attorn. Gen. Did all the Prisoners at the Bar receive their Shares ?
Ign. Pell. Yes, Sir, I know nothing to the contrary.

Judge Trott. They did not refuse their Shares, none of them, did they ?
Ign. Pell. No.

Clerk Have any of you any Questions to ask the King's Evidence? Robert Tucker have you any?
Prisoner. No, Sir.

Clerk. Edward Robinson, have you ?
Prisoner. No, Sir.

Mr. Hepworth. May it please your Honours, we will proceed to call another Evidence.